I had heard of diabetes before on the news and in high school classes. But it wasn't until I met my college roommate that I had any idea what it meant. After weeks of missing it, I finally witnessed my roommate giving herself an injection of insulin. We had a lengthy discussion about this and the other ways diabetes had impacted her life.



I'd always been terrified of needles when I was younger, and, to be honest, still experience a slight shiver of fear when I see the syringes in the doctor's office. I asked her if there was any other way she could get the insulin she needed without multiple shots every single day. She replied that unless they found a way to create a new, working pancreas for her, she'd have to settle being pricked by a needle.

So when I came across an article outlining the future possibilities of bioengineering, my interest was significantly piqued. The medical community has found numerous inventive ways to replicate some of our body's functions. For example, when we are unable to breathe on our own or our lungs aren't functioning properly, we are hooked up to a respirator that breathes for us. Of course, it would be highly inconvenient and expensive to take this respirator with us and get on with our daily lives.

Up until recently, organ donation was the only way anyone thought we could replace a damaged or malfunctioning body part. However, bioengineering may have something more to say on that matter. The most widely used product of bioengineering is that of laser eye surgery. Essentially, this corrective surgery involves using a laser to reshape the eyeball to give recipients perfect vision.

But the new developments won't stop at simply correcting existing organs. It can also serve to regenerate damaged organs. Skin, the largest of the body's organs, can be replicated and regenerated using bioengineered skin grafts. When a burn victim is not strong enough or does not possess enough suitable skin for grafting, a new option has been introduced.

A double layer of collagen and silicone act has protection and induces new, healthy skin growth. When placed on a burned portion of the body, the silicone layer is on the top so to protect the injured skin. New tissue grows through and round the collagen layer, creating a healthy layer of unburned skin.

The hope for the future, however, is to develop fully functioning replicas of actual organs.

It's already been shown to work in hearing impaired individuals. Conducting hearing loss is a condition that results from the damage of one or all the small bones in the ear. The hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and the stirrup (stapes), referred to as the ossicles (small bones), move in response to sound waves and vibrate the ear drum. When one of these bones is injured, hearing loss inevitably occurs.

Surgeons used to replace these bones with titanium or plastic. Today, the ossicles are replaced by biologically active materials that encourage bone growth. After a while, the replacement bones are identical to that of naturally occurring bones.

Kidney failure and liver disease may be treated with brand-new, customized models. It might seem like something that could only happen in a science fiction book. But a few years back no one could guess that contact lenses and glasses would be replaced with laser corrected eyes.

Scientists are still at the investigative stage of organ bioengineering, but the hope is still present. Someday soon it is possible that my roommate's painful routine of injections and finger pricking may be replaced by a brand new pancreas.